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The Taliban deprive millions of women of their human rights and subject them to systematic discrimination, writes Amnesty.
1 of 2 Photo: Kiana Hayeri/Amnesty/TT
Barely a year after the Taliban took power, millions of women have been deprived of the right to a free and safe life. And the situation worsens with each passing day.
This is stated by Amnesty in a new report.
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last August, they claimed they were no longer oppressing women and promised a “softer” policy. But since then, the freedoms and rights of women and girls have been severely curtailed. The new rules that the Taliban have introduced discriminate against and violate women in almost every aspect of their lives, says Amnesty International.
“Everything that is part of everyday life – if and how they go to school, if and how they work, if and how they leave the house – is strictly controlled and limited,” writes Anna Johansson, Secretary General of Amnesty Sweden, in a press release.
Don’t dare to go out
The human rights organization has interviewed 101 Afghan girls and women. In the interviews, it appears that they are prevented from moving, studying and working. The Taliban have banned women from traveling long distances without a male companion, but even women and girls who move shorter distances are stopped and harassed, which means that few venture out at all.
Teacher Sunbal, who is interviewed in the report, says:
“I used to have 40 to 50 students in my class, now I have less than five. The others are too scared to even go out.”
Women who protest the oppression are subjected to harassment and arbitrary detention. A protester tells Amnesty:
“A soldier hit me on the chest and said, ‘I can kill you right here and now, and no one would say anything.’”
“A slow death”
An Afghan journalist describes the situation as “a slow death for women in Afghanistan.”
Amnesty believes that the Taliban are deliberately depriving millions of women of their human rights and demands that the international community act harder.
“These attacks against Afghanistan’s female population worsen with each passing day,” writes General Secretary Anna Johansson.
Facts
Women’s rights in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has long been considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries for women. Widespread sexual and physical violence, armed conflict, female genital mutilation and a lack of healthcare and education seriously threaten women’s health and lives, according to a 2019 survey by the American Thomson Reuters Foundation.
24 percent of the country’s women are literate, and only 13 percent work. 87 percent state that they have at some point been affected by gender-related violence.
When the Taliban’s first rule collapsed in 2001, the situation improved slowly over several years as more girls were allowed to go to school and maternal mortality decreased. More women also took a seat in decision-making bodies.
But since the Taliban came back to power in 2021, the trend has turned in most areas. Women in government administration have been fired, girls have to drop out of school after primary school and women who protest the restrictions are harassed and arrested. Women are no longer allowed to travel without a male escort outside their place of residence. In May this year, there was added the order that women must dress fully – even the face must be hidden – in public. The Taliban government again advocates the burka.
Sources: UI, Sida, UN Women, Swedish Afghanistan Committee, World Bank
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